This invention relates to a self-sealing valve and, more particularly, to any low pressure inflatable device that includes the self-sealing valve.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,363 (hereinafter the xe2x80x9c""363 patent) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,726 (hereinafter the xe2x80x9c""726 patentxe2x80x9d) disclose a valve and a motor for inflating and deflating inflatable objects. FIG. 62 illustrates a top view and FIG. 63 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of dual-valve assembly disclosed in the ""363 and ""726 patents. The valve includes a flange 152 that may be mounted to a wall of an inflatable body in a location proximate to a port through which air is transferred between an interior and an exterior of the inflatable body. The flange 152 has a throat 1521 through which all air passes that is being transferred between the interior and the exterior of the inflatable body. The throat 1521 is defined by a circular rim 1522. In addition, a cover assembly 153 including a cap 1533 is used to removably cover the throat 1521. A ring-shaped base 1531 is disposed around an exterior of the circular rim. The cap 1533 is attached to the base by means of a hinge assembly 1532. The cap may be latched into a closed position by a latching arrangement including a latch projection 1535 on the cap and latch receptacle 1536 on the base. When the cap is closed, a gasket 1534 is urged against the top 1523 of the rim 1522 so that the gasket is submitted to compression, to seal the dual-valve assembly.
Disposed within the dual-valve assembly 153 is a valve assembly 154. The valve assembly includes a diaphragm 1544 and valve stem 1547. The valve stem and the diaphragm are supported by a valve stem support 1549 which is attached to the cap 1533. The dual-valve assembly also includes a structure defining an inflation input 1542 and a valve seat 1543, that the diaphragm rests against in a closed position to further form a seal of the dual-valve assembly. The diaphragm can be accessed by an individual at the inflation input and can be pushed axially within the dual-valve assembly in a downward direction into an open position by pressing on a push button 1546. The diaphragm is urged into the closed position when the push button is released by a spring 1548, disposed within the valve stem, that pushes against a portion of the valve stem support.
Thus, the ""363 and ""726 patents disclose a valve that can be used to inflate and deflate an inflatable device wherein the diaphragm moves downward in an axial direction towards an interior of the inflatable device away from the valve seat during inflation and that moves upward in an axial direction towards the valve seat to seal the valve. However, the dual-valve assembly disclosed in the ""363 and ""726 patents is approximately 4xe2x80x3xc3x975xe2x80x3 and therefore requires substantial space for mounting within an inflatable object. However, many inflatable objects cannot accommodate a valve assembly of this size and therefore there is a need for a smaller valve assembly that can be mounted within smaller inflatable objects. In addition, many inflatable devices have a contoured surface and therefore there is a need for a valve that can be mounted on a contoured surface area. Further, the dual-valve of the ""363 and ""726 patents requires nine separate parts to be manufactured and assembled and therefore is costly and difficult to manufacture, assemble and maintain. Therefore, there is a need for a valve that requires less parts, is cheaper to manufacture and assemble, and is easy to maintain. Moreover, the dual-valve disclosed in the ""363 and ""726 patents has redundant devices for sealing the valve which contribute to the excessive parts and cost. Therefore, there is a need for a valve that provides a suitable seal that does not require redundant structure to accomplish the self-seal. Still further, since the valve is to be inserted within an inflatable device, there is a need for the valve to be easy to use and easy to clean and/or repair.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a self-sealing valve assembly for use in inflatable devices.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a self-sealing valve includes a valve housing that has a fluid inlet. The valve housing is configured so that all fluid being transferred between an interior and an exterior of the valve housing passes through the fluid inlet. The self-sealing valve also includes a valve assembly that selectively covers the fluid inlet to provide a self-sealing pneumatic seal. The fluid inlet is defined by an inner wall of the valve housing and the valve housing also includes a valve seat substantially facing the interior of the valve housing. The valve assembly includes a hanger arm attached at a first end of the hanger arm to the inner wall of the valve housing via a hinge assembly disposed between the first end of the hanger arm and the inner wall. The hanger arm has a second end that may be moved about the hinge point of the hinge assembly in a first direction from a closed position towards the interior of the valve housing to an open position and that may also be moved about the hinge point in a second direction, opposite of the first direction, from the open position to the closed position. The valve assembly further includes a flexible diaphragm having an area larger than an area of the fluid inlet, having a first surface facing the interior of the valve housing and having a second surface facing the exterior of the valve housing. The flexible diaphragm is mounted to the hanger arm to allow movement of at least a part of a periphery of the flexible diaphragm in the first direction towards the interior of the valve housing away from the valve seat to the open position and also to allow movement of at least that part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm in the second direction so that the periphery of the flexible diaphragm engages against the valve seat in the closed position.
This embodiment of the self-sealing valve assembly may be removably attached to a wall of an inflatable body proximate to a port for transferring fluid between an interior and an exterior of the inflatable body so that fluid being transferred between the interior and the exterior of the inflatable body passes through the fluid inlet of the self-sealing valve. With this arrangement, an act of inflation of the inflatable body will cause at least one part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm and the second end of the hanger arm to move in the first direction into the open position to permit an influx of fluid into the inflatable body. In addition, fluid pressure created within the inflatable body will be sufficient to cause at least that part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm and the hanger arm to move in the second direction to the closed position when there is an absence of the influx of fluid. In addition, with this arrangement, the self-sealing valve assembly automatically opens to allow pressurization of the inflatable device, automatically closes to retain pressurization of the inflatable device, and maintains a pneumatic seal at low pressures within the inflatable device. Further, the self-sealing valve assembly is easy to use and maintain and the floating diaphragm can be easily manipulated to deflate the inflatable object. Moreover, the self-sealing valve assembly is small and thus can be used in small inflatable objects and/or on contoured surfaces of inflatable devices. Still further, the self-sealing valve has few parts and thus can be manufactured inexpensively.
This embodiment of the self-sealing valve may also be provided with a device for locking the hanger arm and at least a part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm in a locked open position. In addition, this embodiment may be provided with structure that releases the hanger arm and at least that part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm from the locked open position to allow the hanger arm and flexible diaphragm to move to the closed position.
This embodiment of the self-sealing valve may also be provided with structure for reducing any flexing of the flexible diaphragm except for at least that part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm that moves to the open position.
This embodiment of the self-sealing valve assembly may also be provided with structure for preventing movement of the hanger arm and the flexible diaphragm in the second direction past the closed position such as, for example, out of the fluid inlet.
This embodiment of the self-sealing valve may also be provided with structure for removably connecting the valve to any inflation or deflation device.
This embodiment of the self-sealing valve may also be provided with a cover that is retainably secured to the self-sealing valve, for selectively protecting and exposing the fluid inlet of the self-sealing valve.
This embodiment of the self-sealing valve may also be provided with structure for easily installing and/or removing the hanger arm and the flexible diaphragm combination from the self-sealing valve housing so as to easily fix and/or maintain the self-sealing valve.
Another embodiment of a self-sealing valve according to the present invention includes a valve housing having a fluid inlet defined by an inner wall and a valve assembly that selectively covers the fluid inlet to provide a pneumatic self-seal. The valve housing includes a valve seat facing an interior of the valve housing and the valve housing is configured to require fluid being transferred between the interior and an exterior of the valve housing to pass through the fluid inlet. The valve assembly includes a support member that suspends a flexible diaphragm in a floating position within the valve housing to allow movement of at least a part of a periphery of the flexible diaphragm in a first direction away from the valve seat to an open position and to allow movement of at least that part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm in a second direction, opposite of the first direction, so that the periphery of the flexible diaphragm engages against the valve seat in a closed position. The flexible diaphragm has a surface area larger than an area of the fluid inlet, has a first surface facing the interior of the valve assembly, and has a second surface facing the exterior of the valve assembly. The second surface of the flexible diaphragm includes the periphery of the flexible diaphragm that engages against the valve seat to provide the pneumatic self-seal. The valve assembly further includes structure for mounting the flexible diaphragm to the support member and for allowing manual movement of at least that part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm in the first direction into the valve housing so as to purge the self-sealing valve.
This embodiment of the self-sealing valve assembly may be removably attached to a wall of an inflatable body proximate to a port for transferring fluid between an interior and an exterior of the inflatable body so that all fluid being transferred between the interior and the exterior of the inflatable body passes through the fluid inlet of the self-sealing valve. With this arrangement, an act of inflation of the inflatable body will cause at least that part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm to move in the first direction into the open position to permit an influx of fluid into the inflatable body. In addition, fluid pressure created within the inflatable body will be sufficient to cause at least that part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm to move in the second direction to the closed position when there is an absence of the influx of fluid. In addition, with this arrangement, the self-sealing valve assembly automatically opens to allow pressurization of the inflatable device, automatically closes to retain pressurization of the inflatable device, and maintains a pneumatic seal at low pressures within the inflatable device. Further, the self-sealing valve assembly is easy to use and maintain and the floating diaphragm can be easily manipulated to deflate the inflatable object. Moreover, the self-sealing valve assembly is small and thus can be used in small inflatable devices and/or on contoured surfaces of inflatable devices. Still further, the self-sealing valve has few parts and thus can be manufactured inexpensively.
This embodiment of the self-sealing valve may include a hinge assembly disposed between one end of a hanger arm that suspends the flexible diaphragm in the floating position and the inner wall of the valve housing so that the hanger arm and the flexible diaphragm are pivoted in a downward direction into the valve housing to inflate and to purge an inflatable device.
This embodiment of the self-sealing valve may also include a hanger arm attached to the inner wall of the valve housing, the hanger arm having a slot including increased diameter openings at each end of the slot that allow a compressible handle of the flexible diaphragm to be retained within the increased diameter openings or moved in the sideways direction along the slot. This version may also include a spring-mounted hinge disposed between one end of the hanger arm and the inner wall of the valve housing and a latch assembly disposed between a second end of the hanger arm and the inner wall of the valve housing. With this arrangement, the hanger arm and the flexible diaphragm may be moved about the hinge point of the spring-mounted hinge in a direction towards the exterior of the valve assembly when the diaphragm handle has been moved sideways within the slot to one of the increased diameter openings to compress a spring of the spring-mounted hinge and unlatch the latch assembly. This embodiment of the self-sealing valve may include a retaining rib that extends across the fluid inlet of the valve housing between the valve seat. The retaining rib may include a vertical support post that extends into the fluid inlet towards the exterior of the self-sealing valve. The flexible diaphragm may include a handle disposed on the second surface of the flexible diaphragm and a tapered indentation disposed on the first surface of the flexible diaphragm. The tapered indentation mates with the support post of the retaining rib so that the handle of the flexible diaphragm can be grasped and the periphery of the flexible diaphragm can be pivoted in a downward direction into the valve housing about the support post to deflate an inflatable device.
This embodiment of the self-sealing valve may also include at least one rib attached to the inner wall of the valve assembly. The at least one rib may have a slot disposed therein and the diaphragm may have a mating rib projecting from the second surface. The mating rib may have a narrow section that mates with the slot and an enlarged section that secures the diaphragm to the rib. The diaphragm may also include a target area that pivots downward into the valve assembly under pressure applied to the target area to allow for inflation or deflation of an inflatable device.
An embodiment of a method of installing a hanger arm and flexible diaphragm within a self-sealing valve housing according to the invention includes the steps of providing the hanger arm having at least one projecting tab at a first end of the hanger arm including a seating hole disposed therein that is configured to mate with a hinge pin and having the flexible diaphragm mounted to the hanger arm so as to allow movement of at least a part of a periphery of the flexible diaphragm without any movement of the hanger arm. The hanger arm and flexible diaphragm are placed into a fluid inlet of the self-sealing valve housing so as to engage the seating hole against the hinge pin mounted on a first surface of a bracket secured to an inner wall of the fluid inlet. The hanger arm with the flexible diaphragm is pivoted in a downward direction into and through the fluid inlet of the self-sealing valve housing to a closed position. With this arrangement, the self-sealing valve can be easily maintained and a new hanger arm and flexible diaphragm may easily be installed in an existing self-sealing valve housing.
A check valve according to an embodiment of the invention includes a valve housing having a fluid inlet defined by an inner wall, the valve housing having a valve seat facing an interior of the valve housing and the valve housing being configured to require fluid being transferred between the interior and an exterior of the valve housing to pass through the fluid inlet. The check valve also has a valve assembly that selectively covers the fluid inlet. The valve assembly includes a support member, that suspends a flexible diaphragm in a floating position within the valve housing to allow movement of at least a part of a periphery of the flexible diaphragm in a first direction away from the valve seat to an open position and to allow movement of at least that part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm in a second direction, opposite of the first direction, so that the periphery of the flexible diaphragm engages against the valve seat in a closed position. The valve assembly also includes the flexible diaphragm having an area larger than an area of the fluid inlet, having a first surface facing the interior of the valve housing and having a second surface facing the exterior of the valve housing, the second surface including the periphery of the flexible diaphragm that engages against the valve seat. In addition, the valve assembly includes structure for mounting the flexible diaphragm to the support member and for allowing manual movement of at least that part of the periphery of the flexible diaphragm in the first direction. With this arrangement, the check-valve can be used to seal an inflatable body and to control the flow of the fluid into the inflatable body.